Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Bill of Rights and Amendments Essays - James Madison, Free Essays
Bill of Rights and Amendments Essays - James Madison, Free Essays Bill of Rights and Amendments Bill of Rights and Amendments The United States of America is by far the most successful Republic governed country in the world and has managed to survive for over 223 years. What has made the United States such a success is the foundation that the framers created, the United States Constitution. The framers knew that with time the needs of the people would evolve due to changes in society, so regulations in the Constitution would need to be adjusted or expanded for the changing times. The adjustments are called Amendments. Since 1788 only Twenty-Seven Amendments have been ratified and added to the United States Constitution and amazingly enough ten of them known as the Bill of Rights were proposed under the First Congress. As society continues to evolve the Constitution may need to update existing regulations or improvements may need to be made and added to cover issues that were not originally covered in the Constitution such as: abolishment of slavery, the right to vote for all American citizens including women and former slaves, taxes, and right to citizenship just to name a few. Without the admission of amendments the Constitution would be in danger of becoming less relevant to the needs of modern society; for example after the civil war the slaves were free, but where in the constitution did it make it illegal to have slaves? Where did it state that they had a right to vote? It didn?t, that is why the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery was added in 1865, then in 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment was added and in Section 1 reads: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous conditi on of servitude. This now declares their freedom and their rights to vote in the Constitution. The framers knew that amendments would need to be added, that is why they are covered in Article V in the Constitution. Amending the Constitution is not an easy or quick process. There are two significant steps in the Amendment process. The first step in the process is the proposal, in which either two-thirds of both of the houses of Congress have to agree and deem it necessary to propose a new amendment or two-thirds of the legislature from the fifty states calls a Constitutional Convention to propose Amendments. Once Amendments have been proposed they will then need to be ratified, this too can happen one of two ways. An amendment can be ratified when three-fourths of the legislature from the states vote in favor of the amendment or Congress can direct a ratifying convention where three-fourths of the convention has to vote in favor of the amendment; all but the twenty-first amendment have been ratified by the state legislatures. The first 10 amendments known as The Bill of Rights are the most important amendments in the Constitution. When the framers were drafting the Constitution their primary focus was establishing a strong and effective federal government, since this was their main focus the Constitution addressed a very limited number of rights for the people. The framers, and notably James Madison, the principal architect, believed that the Constitution protected liberty primarily through its division of powers. ("The Bill Of Rights: Its History And Significance", n.d). This made the Anti-Federalist who opposed the Constitution very uncomfortable; they feared that a large central government would not be any different than being ruled by a monarchy, their liberties were being threatened and they believed that if the framers really cared about their personal liberties and individual rights they would have been covered in the verbiage of the Constitution. Because of the Anti-Federalist concerns and their d isdain for the Constitution the Federalist became concerned about the ratification of the Constitution, due to their concern they agreed to add several amendments known as the Bill of Rights which were written by James Madison. Without the addition of the Bill of Rights the Constitution may not have been ratified. The Bill of Rights are precious and they have become an ethical code for America, because of these 10 amendments, the United States has
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Romeo - A Character Profile From Romeo and Juliet
Romeo - A Character Profile From Romeo and Juliet One of the original star-crossd lovers, Romeo is the male half of the ill-fated pair who drive the action in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. Much has been written about the origins of the character, and the influence Romeo has had on other young male lovers throughout Western literature. But Shakespeares Romeo is an enduring representative of young love gone tragically wrong. What Happens to Romeo Most interpretations of Romeo and Juliet estimate him to be about 16 years old, and Juliet to be about 13. The heir of the House of Montague, Romeo meets and falls in love with Juliet, the young daughter of the House of Capulet. For reasons unexplained, the Montagues and Capulets are bitter enemies, so the young lovers know their affair will anger their families. But the titular couple isnt interested in family feuds, and quickly fall in love.  Romeo and Juliet secretly marry with the help of his friend and confidant, Friar Lawrence. But the two are doomed from the start; after Juliets cousin Tybalt kills Romeos friend Mercutio; Romeo retaliates, killing Tybalt. He is sent into exile, only returning when he hears of Juliets death. But Juliet has only faked her death unbeknownst to Romeo, who kills himself in a fit of grief. She awakens to find him dead and takes her life, this time for real. Was Romeos Death Fate? After the young lovers die, the Capulets and Montagues agree to end their feud. Shakespeare leaves it mostly to his audience to decide whether this means that Romeo and Juliets deaths are fated. Could the feud have been ended any other way? Questions long debated among Shakespearean scholars: Is the outcome of the play the result of bad luck? Or were Romeo and Juliets deaths predestined as part of the legacy of their families feud? Origins of the Romeo Character Most Shakespeare historians trace the origin of the Romeo character back to Greek myth. Ovids Metamorphoses tells the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, two young lovers in Babylon who lived next to each other and communicated through cracks in the walls, their parents having forbid them meeting because of an ongoing family feud. The similarities to Romeo and Juliet dont end there: When the pair arrange to meet finally, Thisbe arrives at the predetermined spot, a mulberry tree, to find a menacing lioness. She runs away, but accidentally leaves her veil behind. Pyramus finds the veil when he gets there and believes the lioness has killed Thisbe, so he falls on his sword (literally). Thisbe returns and finds him dead, then kills herself with his sword. While Pyramus and Thisbe may not have been Shakespeares direct source for Romeo and Juliet, it was certainly an influence on the works from which Shakespeare drew. Romeo first appeared in Giulietta e Romeo, a 1530 story by Luigi da Porto, which was itself adapted from Masuccio Salernitanos 1476 work Il Novellino. All of those later works can, in some way or other, trace their origins to Pyramus and Thisbe.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
12 Angry Men - Movie Review Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
12 Angry Men - Movie Review - Assignment Example Very early in the movie Juror 10 starts with accusatory his racist remarks towards the people who are black and live in slums. His words â€Å"You're not gonna tell me that we're supposed to believe this kid, knowing what he is. Listen, I've lived among them all my life. You can't believe a word they say. You know that. I mean, they're born liars,†are a reminder of his deep seeded resentment towards these people throughout the movie. He is unwilling to look at the facts and decide the verdict without letting his prejudice get in the way of his judgment. Juror 4 and 7 also show prejudice towards the boy’s socio-economic group however, it is Juror 10 who takes it to extreme heights.He sees the light when Juror 5 a slum dweller challenges his biased general opinion. He however, does not change his vote until the middle of the movie when others tell him to stop his insulting remarks and calm down.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
20th Century Public Space Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
20th Century Public Space - Essay Example Figure 4 The Great Court at the British Museum Designed by Norman Foster†¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Page 8 Introduction Public spaces are critical components of urban areas. According to Worpole public spaces are any areas that are open and accessible to people (p. 3). This may include roads, public arenas, government buildings, libraries museums among other structures. It is imperative to note that the public spaces include outdoor and indoor spaces. Historically, pubic spaces were used by people for social, economic and even political purposes. Thus, these places played an integral role in building the social and cultural relationships among the people in a particular area. In the United Kingdom, urban areas have incorporated public spaces as an essential element of urban planning for centuries. In Europe, most cities took a functional approach towards the design public spaces whereby there existed several kinds of public spaces with different functions and symbolism (Hamnett & Noam 223). The functional approach of architectural design was favored due to the specialization of the cities. For instanc e, factors such as traffic, politics, social contrasts and productivity became critical considerations in the selection of the kind of public space appropriate for a particular area. It is evident that planning and design of public spaces has to that the spaces facilitates easy and meaningful interactions of people. Suffice to say, public spaces in buildings such as churches have to architectural designed to handle large numbers of people with various needs and demands. LondonMuseum One of the most notable public spaces in the history of Europe is the museum. Museums can be basically defined as places where objects of cultural or historical significance are exhibited. Notably, museums are repositories for historical artifacts that are of value for future generations in order to allow interested people to view. The first public museum in Britain was opened in 1753 in London (Duncan 279).This was the first national public museum in the globe and it was the brainchild of Sir Hans Sloan e. The British Museum was officially established through an Act of Parliament and it was first housed in a seventeenth century mansion in Bloomsbury London called Montagu House. Over the centuries, the buildings housing the British Museum have changed the museum has remained in its original location. Figure 1 Courtyard of Montagu House, Bloomsbury, 1754. (Worpole 175) After its opening in 1753, the museum grew in stature and the number of collections. Initially, the Museum had approximately seventy one thousand collections which were contributed by the Sir Hans Sloane. The huge number of new collections naturally meant that the Museum had outgrown the original building in which it was housed. This prompted the first expansion programme that laid the foundations for the present structure that houses the British Museum. In 1823, the trustees of the British Museum commissioned a renowned architect Sir Robert Smirke to construct the new buildings. The construction of the new building wa s necessitated by the fact that the Museum had received the gift of King George IV’s father’s library and there was no space to add more book shelves in the Museum. Robert Smirke was a follower of the Greek Revival movement of architecture and endeavored to use this architectural design principle in the construction of the building. According to the Greek Revival movement, it was appropriate for buildings to have simplicity and the classical look of the Greek architecture (Hamnett & Noam 225). The design concept for the Smirke building originated from the ancient Greek temples. Smirke
Sunday, November 17, 2019
The Nazi Doctors Essay Example for Free
The Nazi Doctors Essay Robert Jay Lifton’s The Nazi Doctors is a book that summarizes and explains the lives of both prisoner doctors and Nazi SS doctors during the Holocaust. Lifton discusses their roles in the attempt of the Nazis to present their plan for a perfect race as a medical practice and a sort of euthanasia for what the Nazis considered imperfect human beings. Through the interviews of both Nazi and prisoner doctors, I can determine the struggle that faced these doctors and also realize the pressure on Hitler to make the world see his views and actions of both genocide and â€Å"the perfect race†as acceptable.            Basically, Lifton is telling us that the Nazis knew that the world would be against the plan to murder anyone with an imperfection. So, the Nazis tried to use what could be disguised as medical means and mercy killings to accomplish this dream. What the world thought made a difference because the world could and would try to stop the Nazis if it appeared that they were conducting mass murders.            In The Nazi Doctors, Lifton brings to my attention that the Nazis constantly faced a struggle to keep what they were truly doing from the world. One example was the use of sedatives in great amounts to kill impaired children, attempting to make it look, upon investigation, as if the child was merely overmedicated (Lifton, p.54-55). When the world realized what the Nazis were doing, the reaction was basically World War II.            The weltanschauung or â€Å"philosophy of life†is examined in The Nazi Doctors in several ways. The Hitler philosophy that it is the state’s responsibility to â€Å"declare unfit for propagation all who are in any way visibly sick or who have inherited a disease and can therefore pass it on.†(Lifton, p.22), is evident throughout the book. It is portrayed as an evil philosophy. Lifton relates more to Martin Buber and Leo Baeck who were both Jews and both supported the Jewish community during World War II. Like Buber who opposed Hitler’s regime and lectured against the Nazis, Lifton remarks several times that the Nazis tried to hide the evil they were doing from the world, proving they knew it was evil and unacceptable. Lifton even states that Buber saw one of the most powerful SS doctors, Josef Mengele as a â€Å"wound in the order of being†(Lifton, P.381). This also leads to the assumption that the book takes the views of Leo Baeck whose philosophy, from my point of view, was basically that ethical acts are a response to experiencing God and that the Nazis’ unethical acts are all from a decision to choose to perform these unethical acts.            Jane Elliot and The Nazi Doctors share the same philosophy on life. As Elliot opposes white supremacy, so does this book expose another racial supremacy. As Elliot opposes supremacy over blacks and tries to show the world its hidden prejudices through bold faced lectures and the Blue eyes/Brown eyes exercise, this book exposes Hitler’s prejudices over many races he insisted were inferior. And it was not just races but people with any impairment, whether it be mental or physical, that Hitler and his Nazis opposed. By reading Lifton’s point of view, I can see how he related to Jane Elliot’s view of life.            According to The Nazi Doctors, the Nazis began experimenting in their hospitals, but eventually spread their â€Å"euthanasia†to their concentration camps. The book explains how the whole killing plan came about in five basic steps: first came sterilization of impure human beings, the killing of impaired children, the killing of impaired adults, then the move to killing of impaired inmates in the concentration camps and prisons, and finally the mass murders of whole races and peoples. Always the Nazis tried to disguise these mass murders and killing of the innocent behind medical practices. This is why doctors were used to determine who should be put to death.            Even as they arrested those who opposed or spoke against the Regime, the Nazis also realized how important the resistance was. This is proven by the fact that they responded to resistance to direct medical killing by trying to disguise many deaths as results of pneumonia or accidental overmedication. The anti-Semitism in Europe, especially in Germany with their history of anti-Semitic stories and myths, made an easy target for Hitler and his Nazis. Because the people misunderstood the Jews, it was easy to make them fear the Jews. This made it easy to create a following to exterminate all Jews and later the Poles and gypsies and anyone the Nazis felt were impure to the human race.            Although in the United States there was not a strong sense of anti-Semitism, and we were fighting to destroy Hitler’s regime, anti-Semitism did exist and many Jews here felt isolated. However, without the history of fears of different races, since we are a melting pot of races, it would be difficult to focus on so many races as impure. Not to say that the United States does not hold prejudices, but the basis of our Constitution is the freedom to live and provides us with certain rights. So, much of America would be outraged by the Nazis and their methods of racial purification.            Thus leading to the reason why Hitler’s Holocaust plan needed worldwide indifference as well as a police state. The police state was necessary to control the extermination selection and the secrecy of what was really going on, and the people themselves. Worldwide indifference was necessary to what they were doing in order to squelch all protests and opposition to their plan. In other words, so no one would try to stop them. Lifton makes this clear throughout the book.             My personal reaction to this book, other than the horror to the truths it reveals, is that Lifton did a thorough job of delving into the minds of both the prison doctors and the Nazi doctors. He tries to show his readers how each side felt and what they lived through. He reveals the ways the prison doctors overcame great horrors and shocks to help the best way that they could. He explains how the Nazi doctors rationalized their part in the Regime’s plan and how they dealt with their evil responsibilities by drinking alcohol. Lifton makes it clear that he disagrees with this idea of a pure race and sees none of this as medical euthanasia, but as mass murder. I agree with Lifton and appreciate his great attempts to find the truth through his interviews. The book was interesting as well as stirring since it brought a sickness to my soul to understand how these massive killings and injustices could have ever occurred. Work Cited  Lifton, Robert Jay. The Nazi Doctors. New York, NY, USA: Basic Books, Inc.,1986.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Corporate Culture Essay -- Business Company Goals Essays
Corporate Culture Utilising the video case study of ‘Egg Finance’ (Slave Nation, Channel 4), critically examine the extent to which corporate culture is used as an effective tool for the achievement of organizational goals. Corporate Culture is widely used in many organisations and has a variety of definitions. It has been defined by Koozes, Caldwell & Posner cited by Moorhead/Griffin, (1989:494) as: â€Å"a set of shared, enduring beliefs communicated through a variety of symbolic media, creating meaning in people’s work lives.†The argument to be taken in this essay will identify the usefulness and necessity for corporate culture to gain organizational success. In order to do this the argument will be utilized by supporting the theories of Emile Durkheim, Carol Axtell Ray, Terrance Deal and Allen Kennedy. Qubein (1999:2), cited by Sadri and Lees, states that,†corporate culture encompasses several key elements.†He adds, â€Å"It is fostered not merely by a mission statement, but by a clear corporate vision which is a mental picture of the company’s desired future.†It is not only the managers who should have this clear vision, the employees ought to perceive this as well. They should feel the need that they want to help to achieve the organizations goals. When organisations follow corporate culture, they try to make their employees feel that they belong and are accepted for who they are, thus making them want to work for the company. Attempt is made to make the employees feel that their organisation is their religion. This has been clearly demonstrated in Egg Finance. Corporate culture has been extensively used in Egg Finance, and in doing so have captured the hearts and minds of their employees. Each employee working for Egg Finance feels that â€Å"Egg†is their life. They feel safe and secure and feel that they are affiliated to the company. Carol Ray (1994) agrees with this as being part of corporate culture as she states that:      â€Å"a corporation’s culture has an important purpose to promote a sense of belongingness to the employees.†This has definitely worked for the employees at Egg. They even go to the extent of calling themselves an â€Å"egg person.†This ties in with the corporate cultural belief of Emile Durkheim and his approach. Egg Finance have tried to create an â€Å"Egg World†for their employees. They have many out-of-work... ...cess of the company. As Edgar Schein portrays it, â€Å"The right kind of culture will influence how effective organisations are.†(Edgar H. Schein, 1992, Organisational Culture and leadership) Works Cited †¢Ã‚     Thompson, P., & Mchugh, P. 2002, Work Organisations. 3rd ed, Palgrave, New York. †¢Ã‚     Channel 4 Productions, 2000, Slave Nation, Egg Finance. †¢Ã‚     Huczynski, A., & Buchanan, D. 2001, Organisational behaviour: An introductory text. 4th ed, Prentice Hall. †¢Ã‚     Moorhead, G., & Griffin, R. 1989, Organizational behavior. 2nd ed, Houghton Mifflin Company, U.S.A. †¢Ã‚     Sadri, G., Lees, B. 2001, â€Å"Developing corporate culture as a competitive advantage.†; The Journal of Management Development, vol. 20, no. 10, pp. 853-859. †¢Ã‚     Ogbor, J.O., Jesse J.H.2001, â€Å"Critical theory and the hegemony of corporate culture†; The Journal of Organisational Change Management, vol 14, no. 6, pp. 590-608. †¢Ã‚     Ray, Carol in Clark, H et al, 1994, Organisation and Identities, Chapmen 2 Hall. †¢Ã‚     Schein, E.H. 1992, Organizational culture and leadership. 2nd ed, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. †¢Ã‚     Schermerhorn, J. 2002, Management. 7th ed, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Critical study of how music uniquely expands our understanding of experience Essay
Music has long existed in our society as a form of culture, entertainment and the like. In fact every civilization known to exist had had a great deal of benefits from music. There are lots of people who see music as nothing more than plain entertainment however there are those who holds in the claim that music gives us something more than entertainment per se. There are claims that music could affect us in a number of ways. Music has considerable effects on one’s mind, body and emotions. Music that are abundant in beats in a way could fuel one’s body, music carried out with feelings could affect one’s emotional status and could either make one cry with misery or laugh with joy, classical music could stimulate the mind, and so on and so forth. There are people who are greatly aware of the effects music could wrought on a person and this could greatly be seen on our everyday experiences. Movies, films, news, see the importance and know the effects music could have on every individual and thus music is key parts in every movie made nowadays. Have you ever seen a movie that doesn’t have an original sound track or a movie that did not make use of background music? Ever seen a documentary and the like who did not use music in the background while portraying the videos or documents they have? Having seen some of the uses music could have it may now suffice to say that music is indeed an important aspect in our lives and it plays fundamental role in today’s society (as well as on societies which existed thousand of years ago). As was stated music is an essential part of every culture, of every society and thus it is of no surprise that music is seen as a part of our everyday routines. Music could have fundamental effects on one’s emotion. Think of an instance wherein certain music affected you emotionally. Say you heard a certain song and it evoke within you some sort of emotions like pain, happiness and the like. I remember for an instance a conversation I have had with a friend of mine. He always loves to listen to the lyrics of Ever After of Bonnie Bailey and Come Around by Rhett Miller. He told me that he love listening to Ever After because that used to be their theme song (of his ex girlfriend) and he loves singing Come around because he can relate to that particular song. Thus, seemingly music indeed has certain effects on our emotions. I even remember claiming that my friend is such a masochist because he loves listening to sad songs such as Come Around when he has a choice to do otherwise. Similarly music has certain ways of affecting one’s mood. However it is not really known how do music affects a person physiologically and psychologically as well. Thus, a question may arise as to how do certain music affects a person’s mood. In order to determine how music affects a person’s mood one must first know the root as to how music inspires a person’s emotion. There are two contrasting viewpoints who tried to answer this particular puzzle. These views are called emotivist and cognitivist. For an emotivist they believe in the notion that we feel certain emotions as a form of response everytime we hear certain music. The cognitivist on the other hand believes otherwise. The cognitivists believes that there is more to humans than emotions and thus they believe that we get to decode certain musical emotions on a rational level, thus it shows that the cognitivists do not really believe that we really get to experience musical emotions. In order to see whether the beliefs of the emotivists are correct or not an experiment needs to be conducted in order to see if there are certain music models which could draw out coherent physiological reactions from different kinds of people. This experiment is needed in order for us to see if we really do experience emotions when exposed to a particular music. It is in this regard that a study had been conducted by Krumhansl wherein two groups of student were used. These particular groups of students each partake different activities. The activity went as follow: One group of 40 students dynamically rated the levels of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension in six sample pieces intended to evoke sadness, fear, or happiness. They did so by adjusting a slider on a computer while the music was playing. A separate group, consisting of 38 college students, was hooked up to physiological sensors monitoring a variety of cardiovascular, electrodermal, and respiratory responses which recorded their change over time. Both groups heard the six musical samples with a 90-second pause in between each. The physiological measures taken from the second group were compared with the degree of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension reported by the first group. Both the physiological measures and emotional ratings were recorded as they changed during the course of the piece. Therefore, correlations could be drawn between the intensity of certain emotions and physiological symptoms. (Boswell) The results shown by the experiment was in accordance to the side of the emotivists. Each of the musical selections was rated as having the intended emotion, and consistent physiological responses were found for each measured emotion: sad music was correlated with a decreased heart rate, lowered finger temperature, increased blood pressure, and decreased skin conductance level; happy music with faster and shallower breathing, and fear-invoking music with a slower pulse, faster breathing, and decreased finger temperature. These effects were consistent during the duration of the pieces. (Boswell) This is further proof that the emotivists position was indeed supported by the said experiment. The fact that there was a coherent physiological modification that was produced by the different music used in the said experiment were behavioral evidence enough that those college students indeed experienced certain emotions all throughout the time they were exposed to the music used. This result contradicted the claim that emotions could only be transmitted once a person gets to recognize a certain passage present within a particular music. Another study was made by Sloboda. Sloboda attempted to identify the exact musical composition which brings about definite physical emotional responses. Examples of the said responses are tears, trembling, and the like. The study made use of questionnaire which was dispersed to five hundred British citizens. However, only eighty-three persons send back the survey. It is an important thing to know that those eighty-three persons who answered the survey were experts in terms of music, particularly classical music. The said survey had went on as follow: Participants were instructed to indicate the frequency with which they experienced certain physical responses as an effect of music within the last five years, as well as the piece of music and, if possible, the specific part of the piece or musical event that provoked it. In addition, they were asked to say whether the response was consistently evoked. (Boswell) A huge number of the partakers claimed that they were able to experience certain physical emotional responses such as mirth, trembling, tears, lump in their throats and the like for the last five years of their lives. However the survey showed that women are more prone to experiencing tears as compared to men. Men on the other hand, especially those already on their thirties, claimed that they experienced more laughter than compared to other age. Just as was the case on the experiment conducted by Krumhansl, the survey conducted by Sloboda also showed a great deal of consistency to each piece of music they were exposed to. This particular survey also showed the extent of the consistency in that the reactions remained consistent even though they have heard the certain musical piece for more than fifty times. A further point of interest is that there are particular melodic constructions which showed to have consistent effects upon the partakers of the said survey. Appogiaturas for one were consistent in bringing tears into surface. The experiment also showed that a series of changes in terms of harmony incite trembling, whereas quickening brought about faster heart beats. However, if there is a certain drawback in the said study is the fact that it was conducted with the use of questionnaires. We could have no way of knowing if the person who answered it had answered truthfully or if s/he is merely bluffing. Thus, in a way we have no way of making sure that the partakers of the said survey indeed experienced the particular emotions and physical responses they reported they have experienced for the past five years. Another factor is the fact that those who participated in the survey were all expert on the field of music and thus we could not really deduct from this survey alone that the rest of the world would also act or feel the same way. However there are certain studies which had been conducted which show that very little difference exists between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. In addition, the records stated by the partakers of the said survey regarding their experiences of physical signs of emotions are not really unusual. Thus, in a way we could say that the study conducted by Sloboda also supported the position held by the emotivists. We should also take into account the fact that the physical responses reported by the survey partakers are in fact common in all human beings since we all share the same autonomic response system. However, we should also take note of the fact that our capability to utilize the said system in order for us to feel or experience certain emotions brought about by music is in a way, a learned process. This particular claim is supported by the fact that very young children do not really get to experience the said responses. Even those adults who have different kinds of music as compared to ours are not likely capable to experience the said responses brought about by the music we listen into. Thus, Sloboda claimed that the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process which is also dependent on one’s culture. However, this does not necessitate that we do not really get to experience or fell certain emotions from listening to certain music. It only tells us that we may not be able to relate nor are we likely to experience certain emotions from listening to other music that are completely different from ours. Fact is, Sloboda even claimed that if we are to be exposed to music completely different from ours we could still get to relate to that music although it would take time. Therefore even though the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process, evidences and studies still show the stand held by the emotivists that we are indeed capable of feeling or experiencing certain emotions simply by listening to a particular music. Thus those who participated in the studies conducted have steadily testified that they have indeed experienced true emotions when they listened to certain music. The researches conducted also accounted for the fact that very little difference in terms of recognizing emotions could be seen between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. Thus this accounted for the emotivists view that we could indeed experience certain emotions simply by listening to certain music, although it is still not clear what inclines us to be affected in certain ways. Research conducted claims that there is really no ground in saying that somewhere in our brains there could be located a region dedicated mainly to process musical data. In contrary, the errand of musical processing is extended to the whole region of our brains. Thus whereas the right brain is responsible for the emotions evoked while listening to music, the left brain is quite responsible for looking at music in a more rational ground thus it tends to critically examine music. There are even proofs which show that the primeval region within our mid brain is the one responsible for our emotions we experience while listening to music. Thus a primeval region within our midbrain engages itself with the task of realizing and appreciating music in an emotional way. However, the specific region wherein music is being developed (if ever there is one) is yet to be known. A study which involves this particular interest was conducted by Schmidt and Trainor. Schmidt and Trainor studied whether or not frontal brain electrical activity correlated with intensity and positivity or negativity, or valence, of emotion. The study showed that the left frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing positive emotions whereas the right frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing negative emotions. Thus, emotions such as happiness, interests and the like are product of the left frontal brain whereas emotions such as horror, revulsion, pain and the like were made by the right frontal brain. Therefore it would suffice for us to say that when listening to happy tunes our left frontal brain is likely to be triggered whereas listening to desolate songs would trigger our right frontal brain. It also follows that the intensity of music could affect the intensity of the frontal activity. The hypothesis stated above had already been confirmed. A careful selection of music which would likely draw out positive emotions triggered the left frontal brain whereas a careful selection of music which would likely draw negative emotions triggered the right frontal brain. Thus, the frontal activity of the brain increases every time the intensity of certain music also increases. Thus in a way this is also another proof which supports the emotivist view that listening to certain music could make a person experience certain emotions. Thus a similarity between music and language could be seen. Both language and music alike is inclined to be interpreted subconsciously. Thus, this seems to show that humans have a biological structure which enables music to draw emotions from each of us. And though this particular structure is yet to be known, researchers concluded that the said structure is not composed of a single area on the brain. On the contrary, researchers believe that such structure is made up of an interaction of the different systems which could be found within our brain. It is due to music’s many uses that music is also deemed to have considerable effects on the field of medicine. There are certain accounts taken from the Bible, artifacts, as well as studies that show that music could have considerable effects on a person’s health and well-being. In fact, there are historical inscriptions taken from Egypt, Greek, China and other known civilizations which praise music’s ability in medical matters. Music is widely considered to have medical importance and it is in this regard that music even such a term such as music therapy. After World War II the United States of America even see to it that music therapy would be used on wounded soldiers who were tormented by physical as well as emotional traumas taken from the war. Physicians and nurses alike saw how music helped alleviate some of the soldiers or veterans pain by merely engaging themselves on musical activities. It is on this regard that hospitals started employing musicians to help better their patients’ status. Music had been very helpful in bettering the patient’s emotional as well as psychological status and as many people learned of these certain benefits derived from music, National Association for Musical Therapy came to existence. The need for musical therapy became wide range to the point that the National Association for Musical Therapy or NAMT allied themselves to other musical organizations which in turn resulted into the foundation of the American Music Therapy Association or AMTA. The ranges of music therapy vary widely in that it not only caters to emotional sickness since it also proved to be beneficial in sickness suffered under physical injuries. Music therapy helped people in terms of their perceiving pains. There are a number of reasons why they consider music as an effectual means in limiting perceived pains. First, music could divert a person’s mind from the pain at hand or from the pain a person perceives. Second, music could help in terms of giving a person some kind of control. Thirdly, music could help counter pain since it could help a person in releasing endorphins which are necessary in giving a person some sense of well-being. Fourth, slow music could help a person in terms of relaxation in that it slows a person’s breathing. Take a person with leukemia for an example. Let’s say Person A needs to undergo a certain surgery necessary to cure his leukemia. One should admit that surgical procedures are indeed frightening and thus Person A could not help but be afraid of what’s on store for him and thus Person A’s blood pressure continues to rise and this in turn has a crucial effect on Person A’s healing process. This particular thing could also heighten Person A’s awareness or perception of pain. One’s pain could not be measure by anyone and thus there is no standard in terms of the amount of pain a person could have. It is in this manner that music therapy comes into the picture. We have already enumerated the reasons why music therapy is considered beneficial in medicine and thus in this manner one could be lead to speculate that music therapy could indeed lessen one’s pain perception because it could work in certain ways in order to lessen a person’s perceived pain. Disturbance or diversion could help in certain ways in lessening one’s sense perception and thus it could help moderate the pain a person undergoes. This pain moderation could be redirected to the cognitive section which could be seen in the Gate-Control Theory of Pain. Pleasant music naturally applies or concentrates on a person’s pleasant stimulus which in turn concerns the capability of the information processing system. Since the music would be busy attending to the pleasant stimulus of a person it naturally follows that the person’s occupation would be diverted from the pain-causing stimulus. It is ion this regard that music is considered important in distracting a person because distraction presents a person with an escape by means of imagination which in turn is a crucial means in lessening stress, nervousness and fear which are important factors which constitutes pain. Thus enjoyable imagination could promote some sense of control to a person which could decrease a person’s nervousness and feeling of being powerless. Thus since music helps transfer our attention away from painful experiences it provides us with a strategy we could use when we undergo painful experiences, may it be physically or emotionally.
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